Manawydan fab Llŷr
| Manawydan fab Llŷr | |
|---|---|
| "Manawydan, son of Llŷr" "The Mabinogi of the Collar and the Hammer" | |
Opening lines of the third branch of the Mabinogi: And after the travellers buried Bendigeidfran's head in the Gwynfryn in London with his face towards France, Manawydan looked at the town and at his friends, and sighed deeply. (Bodleian Library's manuscript) | |
| Author(s) | Unknown, generally believed to be a scribe from Dyfed. |
| Language | Middle Welsh |
| Date | Earliest manuscript dates to 14th century; tale believed to be much older. |
| Series | Four Branches of the Mabinogi |
| Genre | Welsh mythology |
| Subject | Third branch of the Mabinogi. Return of Pryderi and Manawydan to Britain, wasting of Dyfed, imprisonment of Rhiannon and Pryderi, their subsequent release and the restoration of Dyfed. |
| Setting | Mainly Dyfed, also England. |
| Period covered | Mythological |
| Personages | Manawydan, Pryderi, Rhiannon, Cigfa, Caswallon fab Beli, Llwyd ap Cil Coed |
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Manawydan fab Llŷr; "Manawydan, the son of Llŷr" is a legendary tale from medieval Welsh literature and the third of the four branches of the Mabinogi. It is a direct sequel to the second branch, Branwen ferch Llŷr, and deals with the aftermath of Bran's invasion of Ireland and the horrific enchantment that transforms Dyfed into a wasteland. The chief characters of the tale are Manawydan, rightful king of Britain, his friend Pryderi, the king of Dyfed and their respective wives Rhiannon and Cigfa. Along with the other branches, the tale can be found in the medieval Red Book of Hergest and White Book of Rhydderch. Allusions to the tale can be found in two old triads retained in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein.
Will Parker has suggested that the branch draws heavily on the Expulsion of the Déisi, the tale of the Irish tribe that settled in South-West Wales during the Dark Ages and founded the Kingdom of Dyfed, as well as the Irish saga Cath Maige Mucrama, which shares a number of structural and thematic similarities with Manawydan. He describes the third branch as the "foundation myth of the Cymbro-Gaelic royal house of Dyfed..."
The branch is followed by the tale of Math fab Mathonwy, in which the setting is transferred from Dyfed to Gwynedd.